


I've Bloomed in The Direction of You

by ilykuroo



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Confessions, Feelings Realization, Fluff, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Love Confessions, Love at First Sight, M/M, Tsukishima Kei is Bad at Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-27 15:01:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20047969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilykuroo/pseuds/ilykuroo
Summary: There are foreign emotions blooming right where his heart is supposed to be and he’s convinced he’s dying.





	I've Bloomed in The Direction of You

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this without taking breaks and tried to fix as much grammatical errors as I can! forgive me if this sucks but I kinda liked how this ended.

He first felt the foreign tug in his chest when he walked inside the massive indoor gymnasium and his eyes locked into a pair of hazelnut orbs as they watch him carefully from the other side of the court. It made his shiver as if those cat-like eyes were scanning every inch of him and calculating ways to bring him down. He broke the contact with a scowl and walked away knowing he probably made an awful first impression of himself but that was alright, it wasn’t like he came to this training camp to make friends with other teams. He’s already having a hard time tolerating his own without the need to wrap the cord of his headphones around his neck.

The second time he felt it was when those same pair of hazelnut-colored orbs followed him outside the second gymnasium and into the chilly night’s air despite it being summer. He decided to ignore it along with the voice that called for him. It wasn’t his name but it irked him nonetheless because apparently him wearing glasses made up 90% of his identity. The voice louder and louder until it’s being screamed next to him at an ear-splitting volume. Only then did he whip around with his signature scowl and balled fists. “What do you want?!” he seethed, irritated as he holds the urge to call the man anything but nice and friendly because he will most likely get scolded if he disrespected a senpai, let alone Nekoma’s captain. Although he was already showing a lot of disrespectfulness right now.

The man is taken aback for a second before he scratched the back of his head and pointed towards the bottle Kei was gripping. “That’s uhm…actually mine,” he then lifted a similar-looking bottle of a different color and cautiously held it out for the latter to take. “Ours is black and yours are yellow if I remember correctly,”

Kei allowed his shoulders to relax a little as he stared at the water bottle he was holding and the one Nekoma’s captain was nudging towards him. It took approximately fifteen whole seconds for everything to process in his head before he hung his head low to hide the blush spreading rapidly across his cheeks. “Tch,” he clicked his tongue and snatched his respective bottle and shoved the black one towards it owner. He mentally cursed himself for making such an embarrassing mistake and planned to leave it at that but the moment he turned to leave, Nekoma’s captain is calling out for him again.

“W-what now?!” he gritted his teeth and looked over his shoulder just enough to glare but not enough to show his face that probably looked like a tomato at that moment. _Oh god_, if Hinata saw him right now he would never let it go.

Nekoma’s captain blinked at him and pointed his thumb behind himself. “Karasuno’s makeshift bedrooms are over at that building…you’re heading to Nekoma’s,” He burned a little brighter as he muttered under his breath “I-I knew that…” and stomped past the opposing team captain with his head dipped towards his chest. He didn’t call him after that but Kei felt those eyes on his back as he walked away.

  
Today, a usual hot morning with the sun burning holes into everything it touches, he feels it again for the third time — the only difference is that those hazelnut eyes aren’t looking at him instead Kei has his eyes on them. He didn’t mean to stare; it’s just his eyes had automatically searched the room the moment Karasuno stepped inside the gymnasium. He didn’t know what he was searching for until he stopped to stare at a certain scheming captain who had his palms resting on his bent knees, flaunting his thick thighs as he catches his breath. Right there, Kei felt the strong pull where his heart is supposed to be and it terrified him.

He snakes a hand towards his chest and squeezes but the pain doesn’t cease as it only grows stronger the longer he lets his eyes linger on tanned skin and awful bed hair. He ponders carefully if it’s a case of heartburn but he knows what those feel like and it definitely doesn’t feel like fireworks are being launched in his chest, so maybe it’s a heart attack but he doesn’t recall his grandfather saying anything about a pulling sensation accompanied by the ticklish fluttering feeling in the pit of his stomach — does he need to go to the bathroom? No, that can’t be it.

“I think I’m dying,” he decides out loud, startling Yamaguchi who was standing right beside him this whole time. He didn’t even notice — maybe he’s gone blind as well. “W-what?!” the freckled boy exclaimed. “Nothing, I’m just tired,” Kei sighs and dismisses the latter, walking away towards his other teammates for a round of daily stretching.

He spends the day spacing out, getting hit in the face by a stray volleyball, bumping into his teammates in the middle of a match and falling face-first when he attempts for a dive. It leaves him in a bad mood because he knows it not his fault. Ever since the training camp started — no, ever since those hazelnut eyes looked at him, he’s been blinded to anything, everyone and everything.

“Tsukki, are you alright?” Yamaguchi touches his shoulder and he flinches but didn’t push him away. The act of concern made him grit his teeth though. “I’m fine just—“

“Kuroo, can we go now?” Kei looks up to the other side of the nearly empty court and finds a familiar-looking boy with blonde hair and black roots. If he recalls correctly, it’s the boy Hinata was always yelling about back in Miyagi. Kenma, he thinks.

“Kuroo,” Kenma calls again with an exhausted sigh and there’s that pull in his heart again as he watches Nekoma’s captain chuckle before he stands up from where he was tying his shoes. “Alright geez, you’re so grumpy tonight,”  
  
“I just want to sleep,” Kenma reasons but he pulls out a hand-held game console from his pockets and suddenly every ounce of exhaustion from his eyes are gone as if they were never there.

Kei bites his bottom lip and resists the urge to — “Kuroo,” the name rolls out of his tongue before he can stop himself and _fuck_. Said name pauses mid-step by the entrance and whips his head towards him, an eyebrow raised. “Uh, yes?” he cocks his head slightly to the side, waiting patiently while Kenma frowns beside him, obviously unhappy that they were stopped.

“I didn’t know you knew Nekoma’s captain, Tsukki,” Yamaguchi whispers next to him, probably referring to the fact that Kei didn’t add honorifics and Kei mentally chokes himself before jumping off of an imaginary building. “I-I don’t…shit,” he mutters under his breath and forces his eyes away from those hazelnut ones. He then turns his heels and runs to the other exit and it’s probably the wrong way because then he would have to circle the steep hill where they would do their penalties but he doesn’t care — all he cares about is getting away from there as far as possible even if it meant coming off as rude or ignoring Yamaguchi’s frantic yelling before something explodes in his chest because he can feel it. He can feel the pounding of his heart that threatens to burst through his ribcage and tear open his skin.

His lungs are burning and the muscles in his legs are aching when he finally stops under a large tree. Yamaguchi seems to have lost sight of him and he slumps down onto the ground, grips his chest with trembling hands and lets out the loudest scream he could manage before leaning back against the bark of the tree to catch his breath. It helped a little but now his throat is raw and there are blades of grass poking his ass through the thin material of his shorts but he stays there, deep in his thoughts. He’s felt different emotions before; sadness, anger, annoyance, disgust, and happiness, surprisingly to some people. He’s felt all of those and probably even more that he can’t name but this is different. So different that it terrified him to the point of wanting to rip every strand of his hair from his head and shove it down his throat in hopes of silencing whatever is throbbing deep in his chest. It’s like his heart is a ticking bomb and Nekoma’s captain is the trigger that would push the button.

“I’m dying,” he sighs heavily, pulling his knees towards his chest and leaning his forehead against them. It’s the only reason he could think of out of all the diseases he knows after hours of searching online only to find inaccurate results.

  
The next morning, he wakes up with a headache, sore limbs and lifeless eyes. After what happened last night he kept tossing and turning in his futon until the sun pierced through the curtains. He did not get a single blink of sleep at all.

“Tsukishima, you look like a zombie,” Hinata pops up in his field of vision and his orange fluff of hair is an eyesore especially first thing in the morning. “Hinata, I’ll give you two seconds before I grab your head and fling you out the window,” Kei threatens and when Hinata grins, unfazed, he starts cracking his knuckles and only then did the poor boy run away screaming for his life.

Once the painfully loud bundle of literal sunshine is out of his vicinity, Kei heaves a sigh and forced himself up on wobbly legs. Feeling like he’s about to pass out from the lack of sleep, he leans back on a row of cubbyholes where they’ve stored their belongings and stays there until Sugawara approaches him with a toothbrush in one hand and a small towel in the other. He looks like he just came back from washing up and is looking as refreshed as ever.

“Are you alright? You’re looking a little…a lot pale,” he asks and corrects himself when Kei looks up and he notices the pallor in his face. “You should eat breakfast and then rest for today,” he suggests and carefully leads the taller male outside the room. Usually, Kei would protest and insist that he’s alright but the gnawing in the pit of his stomach forces the complaints down his throat.

The cafeteria is noisy and crowded with students as they share a laugh and chitchat here and there with mouthfuls of food. Sugawara guides him to Karasuno’s table and sits him down next to where Yamaguchi is currently stuffing his face with what looks like scrambled eggs. “Ah, Tsukki! Sorry I went ahead, Noya-san dragged me,” he explains, nearly choking with his cheeks filled and Kei wordlessly dismisses him. He plops down on a chair and crosses his arms on the table where he buries his face in there and sighs.

“Stay here, I’ll get you something to eat. Yamaguchi, can you watch him for a bit? He’s not feeling well,” Sugawara squeezes his shoulder comfortingly before he pads away to where the club managers are scooping rice into ceramic bowls and distributing them between groups.

Yamaguchi places his chopsticks down and swallows, nearly choking again. “Are you sick?” he asks and ducks his head so he can see Kei’s face properly, frowning when he confirms that he is indeed looking sick.

“I just didn’t sleep well last night,”_ last night_. The memory of him calling out to Nekoma’s captain like an idiot and fleeing like a coward makes his stomach churn and chest tighten. “Ugh,” he groans, pushes his chair back and heaves himself up. His body feels so heavy and he wobbles slightly before gaining some balance.

“Tsukki?” Yamaguchi stands up after him but stops when Kei holds a hand up before he could follow and he obediently sinks back down, watching with worry as his friend walks out of the cafeteria and disappears around the corner.

Everyone was too busy with filling their empty stomach to notice except for a certain pair of hazelnut-colored eyes that had been watching ever since Kei stepped into the kitchen and left.

“Kuroo-san! Do you dare me to eat this whole plate?!” Lev’s obnoxious voice tears his attention away from Karasuno’s table and he turns his head to find Lev grinning at him with a tower of meat on his plate. “Sure, Lev,” he chuckles, playing along to simply satisfy him and when the half-Russian sits down and begins shoveling everything in his mouth, Kuroo excuses himself and grabs a lonely rice ball from Kenma’s abandoned plate of food.

He leaves the cafeteria and turns a corner, pursing his lips when he finds no one in the area. He makes another turn and another, then a walk across the courtyard in search for that certain bespectacled Karasuno first year. He’s about to give up and just return to his teammates when he makes what he counted was the sixth turn and finds exactly who he was looking for.

“Hey, glasses!” he calls and the blonde male flinches rather violently before he looks over his shoulder and stares, horrified. Kuroo wonders if he should have used a softer tone. He didn’t take this boy to be easily scared though. “Jumpy,” he chuckles and walks to where the latter was crouched between bushes underneath the shade of a crooked tree.

“I saw you leave before eating,” Kuroo sits crossed-legged in front of him, not realizing that he blocked any route of escape unless Kei wants to crawl through the bushes and humiliation himself. But he’s done enough of that last night so curls into himself instead and stays, watching as Nekoma’s captain pulls out an onigiri from the pockets of his jersey. It’s wrapped nicely in plastic and his stomach rumbles at the sight of it, much to Kei’s embarrassment.

Kuroo laughs and holds out the rice roll, urging him to take it and Kei does with cautious hands. “You know, you really should eat more. You’re so scrawny that I’m afraid I’ll break your arms when I spike,” he leans back on his arms and watches with soft eyes as Kei slowly unwraps the onigiri and takes a shy bite.

“Why do you care?” Kei asks and it comes out as a retort but Kuroo doesn’t seem to mind his attitude one bit as he smiles and shrugs. “It’s a captain’s job to look after their teammates,”

Kei shoots him a look before turning away. “I’m not your teammate,” he states the obvious and Kuroo laughs — and cue the nth time his heart does that irrational skip of a beat and the fluttering sensation in his stomach. _God_, if only he can vomit everything out and be okay. “Well, your captain was busy stuffing his face so I thought I’d serve as his substitute,” he admits and cocks his head to the side to peek at Kei’s face. His smile dies when he sees how bright his face is. “You’re looking a bit red, do you have a fever?” he reaches for him and the boy flinches back, staring at him with wide eyes. “Sorry, I was just going to check your temperature,” he explains, not expecting the latter to be this jumpy though it was his fault for attempting to touch him without permission.

“I’m fine,” Kei assures him and he lets his hand fall to his lap with a small nod. He apologizes again before awkward silence falls between them with only the sound of leaves rustling, cicadas chirping and Kei’s fingers over the plastic as he continues to eat his onigiri. The blonde steals glances occasionally and Kuroo pretends not to notice while he plucks a flower off of the ground and twirls it between his fingers, debating if he should offer the small daisy to the latter or if that will only frighten him again.

“Hey,” he decides against the idea but he breaks the silence before it kills them both. “Last night when you called me…were you going to say something?” he asks, remembering how confused he was when the blonde scampered off with a very worried looking freckled-boy running after him. He couldn’t help but think there was something the Karasuno first year wanted from him so maybe that’s why he looked up instantly the moment he heard him enter the cafeteria and followed him when he left.

“It was nothing,” Kei says, his voice cracking but Kuroo didn’t mention it and just nods. “I’m going back. Thank you for the rice ball,” Kei rolls the plastic in his palms and shoves it in his pocket before pushing himself up. He feigns to feel better but the wobble in his legs betray him and his ankle twists, causing him to fall against Kuroo who had stood up next to him. Luckily the cat’s swift reflexes catch him before Kei could hurt himself further.

“That rice ball was obviously not enough,” Kuroo muses and wraps his arms around the younger male to support him, unaware of how that is affecting Kei. He feels as if his heart is about to burst and shoot him in the head. Kuroo feels warm and broad against him, and his fingers tremble over where they were unwillingly gripping his taut biceps. He pushes himself off of the captain and leans on the tree. “I can walk by myself,” he says, a hand over the lower half of his face in futile attempt to cover his blush when it’s spreading rapidly across every inch of his skin.

“Yeah, okay,” Kuroo is not convinced but he nods nonetheless and lets Kei lead the way back to the cafeteria. When they get there, Sugawara and Yamaguchi immediately checks Kei for anything out of the ordinary.

“Where did you go? I told you to stay!” Sugawara scolds him lightly and presses a warm palm against Kei’s forehead before cupping his cheeks. Kuroo looks away, wondering if it’s because he’s his teammate that Kei didn’t flinch away as he did earlier. “Sorry,” Kei apologizes quietly, head down like a kicked puppy. “Sit down and eat. I asked Shimizu to grab some medicine, take those then rest,” the silver-haired male instructs, sounding and looking awfully like a mother before he lets Yamaguchi lead Kei to the table and he turns his attention to Nekoma’s Captain. “Sorry if he troubled you in any way. He’s always been grumpy,”

Kuroo waves a hand, chuckling. “No, not at all! He’s alright,” Sugawara smiles at that and runs off to make sure Kei is actually eating and not just shoving spoonfuls in his mouth only to spit it out. Kuroo watches them for a moment and notices the way Kei tries not to look back at him before he feels a light tug on his shirt and finds Kenma staring up at him. “Where have you been? We were looking for you. Yaku wants to run a new strategy with you,”

“Ah, sorry,” Kuroo walks back to his team’s table and sits down, not mention the few missing cuts of meat from his plate and just ate whatever is left. He’ll let them get away with it this time, though he suspects that either Lev or Yamamoto are the culprits.

The next day, Kei wakes up feeling a lot better but the tinge of foreign emotions in his chest remains along with the fluttery-feeling in the pit of his stomach. He ignores them as much as he can and focuses with today’s practice, even when he feels like running away when his team stands on the court across Nekoma or when his chest tightens until he can’t breath when Nekoma’s captain spares him a glance and smiles instead of smirking. He doesn’t return the smile and turns away before Kuroo could catch the way the tip of his ears turn beet red.

He busies himself by cleaning his glasses, mocking Hinata, riling up Kageyama or simply walking around, just anything to distract himself from the blooming emotions in his chest but when Kuroo comes into view everything fades into the background as his eyes focus on nothing but the way Kuroo’s hair flutters gently in the wind circulating the room or the way his eyes seem to mimic a cat’s or the way his canines show every time he smirks because he got a spike in. No matter how hard he thinks about something else, Kuroo easily takes over his whole mind and the emotions uncontrollably surge throughout his entire body. It wraps him up and suffocates him in the gentlest yet most painful way he’s ever felt.

“Good job blocking almost half of our spikes that first match,” Kuroo compliments him and he scowls, more at the way his heart skips a beat but Kuroo’s smile falters slightly and he scratches the back of his neck. “Uhm, want me to teach you h—“

“No thanks,” Kei cuts him off and runs off before he could finish, mentally scolding his heart for not knowing how the hell to calm down. He swears his dying and he’ll die during this training camp which does not sound peaceful considering how blazing hot it is. Maybe he’ll haunt this place every summer whenever there’s a club holding their own camps.

  
“Yamaguchi, if I die today can you burn my body and scatter my ashes in the ocean? Ah, but it’ll probably take too long to burn me with my height so cut me in four equal pieces before doing so,” he says all too casually for something so morbid as he sips out of his bottle. It takes a moment for Yamaguchi to reply but when he does, he’s spitting water everywhere. “What do you mean?! I’m not going to chop you up and burn you! Don’t you dare die! Tsukki!!” it sounds ridiculous when Yamaguchi says it and he chuckles behind his palm which only seems to frighten the green-haired boy more as he screams louder.

  
On their third match with Nekoma today, Kuroo spiked rather violently against his hand and jabbed his finger, causing him to hesitate each time he attempted another block and Kuroo seemed to notice because, after that game ending with the cat’s win, he approached Kei with a roll of bandaid.

“Tsukki!” he calls, jumping up next to him. “Don’t call me that,” Kei turns to glare at him and his bubbly attitude fades away. “Sorry, also sorry for hurting your finger,” he fiddles with the bandaid sheepishly. “I’ll wrap it up for you so—“ Kei cuts him off again by walking away wordlessly and Kuroo watches him ask Akaashi for a bandaid and when the Fukurodani offers to fix his finger up, Kei accepts with no hesitation. Kuroo feels a strange emotion begin to swirl in his chest as he continues to watch before he walks away dejected.

  
Kei goes back to busing himself and It’s only when they’re on their third break did he excuse himself to the bathroom and practically run there. He doubles over a toilet bowl and gags but when nothing comes out he punches his chest in frustration.

“Tsukki, you in here?” he freezes when he hears a familiar voice call for him outside his cubicle and he quickly locks it. “I told you to not call me that,” he grunts, closing the lid of the toilet so he can sit down and calm his breathing but — “Then, Kei,” Kuroo’s voice is mellow, deep and filled with concern as they say his name and his breath hitches in his throat. “Don’t call me that either!”

There’s silence until Kei sees a shadow dance under his door and hears a soft thud against it. “Hey, do you hate me?” he hears Kuroo ask in a hushed tone and he would have missed it if it wasn’t for the only sound echoing the small bathroom. “W-what makes you say that?” he stutters, knowing very well why but he doesn’t know what else to say. He doesn’t hate him but wouldn’t that mean he likes him?

“You act strange around me and I know it’s only me because you act like your usual snarky self around your teammates and Bokuto. And you’re indifferent but still gentle towards everyone else but when I come close it’s like you’re disgusted and you create this distance I can’t seem to close,” a pang of guilt accompanies the racing beat of his heart and Kei squeezes his chest tight. “I shouldn’t be this bothered by it but I am. You’re our rival on the court but am I not allowed to befriend you off of it? Do you hate me that much?”

Kei doesn’t reply, afraid he’ll break if he does. “Kei, are you alright?” but when Kuroo says his name again, he couldn’t stop himself. He forcibly yanks the door open and yells. “No! God, no I’m not alright and it all your fault!”

Kuroo jerks back from his outburst, tumbling backward until he hits the sink. “Kei…”

“I told you to stop calling me that! Ever since I agreed to go on this stupid camp and ever since I saw you, I’ve been feeling like shit and it makes me want to shove a hand down my throat and punch the hell out of my heart because it’s so frustrating! Stop talking to me! Stop looking out for me! Because I don’t know what to do and it’s all your fault! Leave me alone already!” he yells everything in one breath before punctuating it with a slap across Kuroo’s face. It’s sudden and unexpected, and everything stills with the slap resounding against the bathroom tiles. Kei wants to apologize but the words aren’t coming out as if he’s used every ounce of his voice from all his yelling.

Kuroo is wide-eyed, lips parted in a silent gasp as he reaches to cup his cheek where it burns and stings. “S-sorry,” he manages to utter in his state of shock. “I-I didn’t know you hated me that much I’ll…I’ll stop bothering you. I’m sorry, Tsukishima,” he ducks out of the way and walks out of the bathroom, leaving Kei to stare at his buzzing hand. He slumps to the ground and grips his chest with that hand and he sobs until his eyes are swollen until he has no tears left.

Needless to say, Kuroo avoided him after that. He stopped complimenting his blocks, stopped worrying for him, stopped approaching him, stopped smiling at him as if they never met and if this is what Kei wanted then why is there a part of him that’s desperately calling out for him. _Look this way. Look at me. Notice me. Kuroo!_ A part of him screams until it aches and he holds back his tears until he curls in his futon that night and cries himself to sleep.

Kuroo acts normal the follows days, smiling at his teammates and teasing Fukurodani’s ace with snarky remarks as if the scene in the bathroom did not happen but the mark on his cheek reminds Kei of everything. If anyone asks about the scratch on his cheek, Kuroo just laughs and lies about being hit by Bokuto’s spike to which the accused owl denies with a loud screech before it leads to their usual banter.

“Tsukishima, you’re looking pale again,” Sugawara approaches him after their match with Fukurodani. “Did you sleep well last night?” he asks, handing him a towel.

Kei accepts the towel and sluggishly pats the sweat around his neck dry. “Yeah,” he lies as if the black circles under his eyes aren’t enough.

“Have you been eating properly then?” Daichi chimes in and sits next to them, his body practically steaming and radiating heat. “Yeah,” Kei lies again and he glances to where Nekoma was tossing around a ball. Kuroo is seated near Kenma, watching him play a game over his shoulder with Hinata peering close. “I just really want to go home,” he admits when he decides that Kuroo won’t look up no matter how long he stared. Sugawara claps a hand down his shoulder and Daichi chuckles in understanding. “I want to rest at home as much as you do, Tsukishima but bare with this for just one more day and we can all go home,”

  
The last day of training camp finally comes and they end it with one last ruthless match that ended in loud cheering and heavy pats on the back. The coaches gather their team and give them advice regarding their last match before letting them run around and wish other team members a proper farewell. Phone numbers and emails are exchanged as well as promises of seeing each other in the nationals. Hinata screams and practically flies towards the group of Nekoma players where he gives Kenma a giant hug before Lev heaves him up on his shoulders and jumps around. They’re loud and their mismatching colors are an eyesore but just everyone laughs and some even join them. The team captains gather in their own small circle and wishes each other a good luck a the upcoming competition while the managers share one last chit chat before the sky turns a deep shade of orange and everyone begins packing their bags.

Kuroo walks Daichi to Karasuno’s bus, too engrossed in a conversation to realize that he’s strayed away from his litter but he stays and watches the crows haul their belongings into the vehicle. “Kuroo-san, wait for us in Tokyo!” Hinata and Tanaka cheers from inside the van where the orange-haired male is peeking outside the window with Ennoshita holding his shirt before he falls out. Kuroo chuckles at his enthusiasm and waves. He waves to everyone but when he bumps into Kei, he moves out of the way without a word. Kei feels another emotion forming inside him and he heaves a shaky sigh of exhaustion before he realizes what this one is. He stares at the ground in disbelief as he places a palm against his chest, feeling the way his heart races but not in the same way it did before. It’s heartbroken. He turns back around, watches Kuroo’s back leaving. Suddenly, everything dawns on him at a fast rate and before he could stop himself, he’s running faster than he has ever ran before.

“Kuroo-san!” he reaches forward and grabs him by his jersey and tugs him back. Kuroo makes a noise but when he sees him, he shuts up and turns away immediately. Kei whines in frustration. “Look at me,” he pleads but Kuroo ignores him. “Why won’t you look at me!?” slamming a fist on the latter’s chest, he sinks to his knees and breaks down into loud sobs. This surprises Kuroo but he remained silent as he resists the urge to offer his comfort.

Kei holds onto him by the ankle and uses his other hand to grip his chest where everything is a mess. “I’m sorry!” he cries, feeling pathetic and embarrassed. “I’m sorry I yelled at you I’m sorry I…I slapped you and I’m sorry but I think…I think,” he hiccups, his cries growing erratic and it burns his eyes. He fails to continue his sentence and just sat there crying and when Kuroo yanks his ankle out of his grip he can’t help but cry more but then Kuroo crouches and cups his cheeks. “This isn’t like you,” he chuckles softly he wipes away his tears with the pads of his thumbs. With him so close, Kei can see the obvious scratch under his left eye.

“Kuroo-san,” his voice cracks and reaches to hold him but Kuroo moves his face away. His chest tightens. “It’s okay,” Kuroo hushes him. “Everything’s okay, please stop crying,”

“It’s not okay,” he shakes his head. “I’m a mess and I,” _I like you_. He bites his tongue and muffles a scream of frustration. He needs to say it to make it all better but the words are heavy on his tongue and it’s driving him insane. He knows if he goes back now without confessing, it’ll only weigh on his shoulders until he shatters.

“Come on, your teammates are waiting for you,” Kuroo tries to help him but Kei pulls him down. “Tsukishima,” his voice is strict and his chest tightens again.

“Why are you…pushing me away?” he curls his fingers around the hem of his black shirt and tugs until he hears it stretch from the pressure applied.

“You hate me, Tsukishima and I’m trying to accept that. Now, let me go and—“

“I never said I hated you!” Kei yells, causing the older male to flinch and _fuck_ this is not how he wants to confess. He leans and rests his forehead against his chest, and takes a deep breath in. “I never said I hated you,” he repeats in a gentler tone. “I was confused and scared,”

“Of me?”

Kei shakes his head and then shrugs. “Maybe. You gave me these annoying emotions that I’ve never felt before so of course, it terrified me. Jesus, I thought I was dying and seeing you only made it worse. I was so scared that I made myself think I hate you but…” he breathes in again, longer this time and when he exhales he lets it all out. “But I like it when you worry about me, I like it when you look at me, I like it when you talk to me after matches, I like it when you call me by my name and…all those little things that I lied about and said it annoyed me,”

“I’m scared…I think I like you?” he loosens his grip on his and slumps down with a trembling sigh. “Kuroo-san, I like you,” he repeats with more confidence and a stable voice. “Fuck, I like you so much that I feel like I’m dying,”

He braces himself and prepares for a round of mockery or to be pushed away but instead he feels Kuroo pull him close until he’s snug in his embrace. Juniper and a hint of cinnamon fills his lungs and he sighs, burying himself further in his warmth, wanting to be engulfed completely by his scent and nothing more.

“You first years really are full of surprises,” Kuroo scoffs next to his ear before it dissolves into fond laughter as he runs his fingers through dandelion-colored hair. “Who would’ve thought that the intimidating Tsukishima Kei would confess to me like this,”

“Shut up, I’ll…I’ll take it back,” Kei doesn’t mean it and it’s obvious in the way he snuggles impossibly closer. “I think…I like you too, Kei,” Kuroo whispers his reply and Kei combusts in his arms and hides his face in the crook of his shoulder but Kuroo pulls away just enough to see the way roses bloom across his cheekbones, highlighting his beautiful features.

“Kei,” he nudges him with the tip of his nose and Kei shies away. “Say it again,”

“N-no,”

“I like you, Kei,”

“…I like you too,” Kuroo grins in triumph before he tilts his head and presses his lips against his and everything stopped moving, from the leaves to the birds flying. Everything else stopped when warmth surrounds his chapped lips and he sighs into them, parting his lips to welcome him. Kei doesn’t hesitate to kiss back and when he does his heart does the familiar skip of a beat and his stomach flutters but he doesn’t try to hold it back this time and instead he allows it to seep through every cell in his system and pump blood in his veins. When they pull away, panting, time resumes and leaves rain down on them but they keep their eyes locked and bodies connected.

“Say it again?” Kuroo grins sheepishly, unable to stop himself and Kei rolls his eyes, his lips curling into a smile as he presses a kiss on his cheek where he left a scratch.

“I like you, Kuroo-san,”

  
_ **EXTRA:** _

They reluctantly let go when Daichi’s voice calls from around the corner. Kuroo helps the latter up and he frowns at Kei’s obvious expression. “Give me your phone,” he holds out his hand and demands. Kei obliges willingly and fishes his phone from his pocket, watching as Kuroo inputs his contact details before he returns it.

Kuroo then shrugs off his bright red jersey and wraps it around Kei’s shoulders before pulling him for one last embrace. “Call me when you’re back in Miyagi,” Kei nods as he melts into the hug. He’s taller than Kuroo but he feels so much smaller with his strong arms around him. Kuroo doesn’t let him go until Daichi walks around the corner and witnesses them. “U-uh, Tsukishima…we’re waiting for you but uhm…t-take your time,” he trips on his words and hurries back to the van without looking back, making the duo laugh as they share a final kiss goodbye.

“I like you,” Kuroo hums.

“I like you too,” Kei hesitantly lets him go and Kuroo lets him.

When Kei walks to the van, clutching on the red jersey around him, his other teammates doesn’t question it. until the vehicle pulls out of the driveway, only then did they bombard their bespectacled member with questions that he only shyly smiles at.

**Author's Note:**

> > Not sure if I'll write a sequel about how their relationship develops after that but I think it'll depend on how many people actually liked this. Thank you for reading! :)  

> 
> comments make me happy and keeps me motivated and kudos are very much appreciated! ♡  
You can find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/switchkuroo) | [instagram](https://www.instagram.com/aizvwa/) | [tumblr](https://aizvwa.tumblr.com/)  
  



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